Gits and Know-It-Alls
by JanetJones
Summary: Head Story Draco and Hermione have been thrust into the positions of Head Boy and Girl. The animosity between the two is tangible: but Hermione is getting desperate, and Draco is a selfish git. As one watches the other fall in love, will the line between love and hate be crossed? Or will they further sever themselves from each other?
1. 1

Hermione apperated one last time; she was so close. She had never been to Australia, but she knew that at some point she would have to travel there, this was just sooner than she had anticipated. She made her way to the place where her parents had been buried. Seeing it made it real. She brought her fingers up to her face, wiping away the tears that clouded her eyes.

_You need to be brave, Hermione. It's what they would've wanted._ She thought woefully to herself. Standing tall while shattering on the inside, Hermione walked away. She saw what she need to: her parents were gone. It seemed harder letting go of them now than it had a year ago, when she initially erased their memories of her.

It was for their own good, she reassured herself. She couldn't, rather wouldn't, let her parents be endangered. Hermione found herself wondering what she had done to deserve this. This must have been some kind of sick karmic payback for the deaths that she did not prevent. Sure, they were the deaths of Death Eaters: the nastiest people to walk the earth, but this did not ease Hermiones conscious. .

Apperating to the nearest floo she knew of, Hermione prepared herself for the year to come. She had received her Head Girl pin by post a few weeks earlier, and nothing was going to stop her from doing the best job that she could. Filled with grief and guilt, she stepped into the fire, returning to her home: the Burrow.

There was a pause when she reentered the tall, leaning house. Three different pairs of eyes locked on her, red hair slightly obscuring two of what would be pitying glances. Hermione saw deep down into her green-eyed friends eyes, though, and promptly fell into his safe hug, only to be enveloped by other inhabitants of the room.

"We've missed you so much.", muttered Ron, speaking into Hermione's shoulder as he hugged her from aside.

"I don't think I will ever be able to travel alone again.", Hermione slumped, allowing herself to be completely supported by her friends embraces. There was no reason to pretend to be strong when she felt so utterly small.

* * *

Hermione's feet moved on there own accord. It felt as though she were a ghost of herself, shackled down by her responsibilities and busy schedule. She looked longingly back at the Gryffindor dormitory, the place that had been her home away from home for the last 6 years. The heads dorm was on the other side of the castle, located near the dungeons.

A few second year Slytherins hanging around the Great Hall with devious expressions on their faces caught Hermione's attention.

"Hey. Get to where you need to be. The sorting ceremony will begin shortly, and you should be there to welcome your new housemates.", she snapped. Begrudgingly, as the Slytherins had taken notice of the girls gold pin proclaiming that she was a Head, they made their way to welcoming ceremony, grumbling about stupid Gryffindor's and nonsense rules.

Smirking, Hermione continued on her way to her own rooms, wondering who she'd be sharing them with for the next year.

Hogwarts was silent as Draco walked through the halls, trying to find his way to his rooms. While this may have been his eighth year here, he was still considered a seventh year student, because of the war that only just ended. He was appointed Head Boy, which wasn't that surprising, though most students thought McGonagall would choose Potter. He scoffed at the idea, Potter was too shaken up to do anything remotely useful: he actually thought that Voldemort would come back from the dead and turn his life into a living hell again. Draco shivered at the thought of him: Voldemort. Everything that he went through with him... And the pain. Draco looked down at his right wrist, the dark mark that had nearly lost him his life still lay there, though it no longer moved as it used to. It lay there still, as though it too were dead, just a constant reminder of how pitiful his life had become.

Draco ducked behind the tapestry that hid a peculiar looking hole. Tapping the hole with his wand three times and muttering the incantation would cause the hole to increase inside, thus revealing his new living quarters.

With a _tap, tap, tap_ and a short grunt that sounded like 'wattlebird', the Heads dormitory revealed itself.

Draco had spent the better part of his summer pondering what life at Hogwarts would be like, and though he had questioned who would be chosen as Head Girl, seeing her in front of him surprised him.

_Filthy Gryffindor._ Draco sneered to himself.

There was a slight popping noise as Hermione's mouth fell open. Draco smirked, glad to get a reaction out of her. Yet for some reason, he didn't foresee himself enjoying her pain as much as he had in the past.

_Of course I would get stuck with the ferret._ The emotion behind Hermione's thoughts nearly mirrored the distaste behind Draco's own.

When Hermione had gotten her letter weeks back saying she was Head Girl, the thought that Malfoy might be her Head Boy had never crossed her mind. She saw him as traitor. He tried to kill Dumbledore, for Godrics sake. Thoughts of all the times Draco had called her a _mudblood_ and _good-for-nothing-know-it-all_ dripped into Hermione's head. She quickly composed her face, though her anger was still visible in her eyes.

They both stood their ground, waiting for the other to speak, the silence so thick between them it was tangible.

"Well, Granger, it looks like we're reunited once again. Miss me while you were on the run?", Draco smirked, his eyes never leaving hers.

"As if I could miss a git like you, Malfoy.", Hermione sneered back at him, walking towards the stairs that lead to their rooms.

"You say that now.", he shouted, his words filled with a mirth that she could not comprehend. She could only wonder what he had meant, but those thoughts were best left alone.

Climbing the stairs and entering the room she could only assume was her own, Hermione found herself awestruck. Immediately all thoughts of Draco Malfoy left her mind. This room was simply beautiful. Draped across the walls were deep amber and gold banners. The room was a mix between decorative and necessary. There was a large bookshelf filled to the brim with different colored and sized books, along with a desk on which rested an assortment of quills. The small bed that lounged in the corner was what caught Hermione's eye, though, as she nearly ran to it, and fell into a light slumber, aware that she should be redirecting students into the great hall for the sorting and welcome ceremony.

* * *

When she awoke, Hermione had ran full speed to the great hall, as she was currently late for the beginning of term feast. She mentally screamed at herself.

_Ten points from Gryffindor for running in the halls, Hermione. _She thought, shaking her head and increasing her speed. When she arrived at the great double doors of the hall, she tried as sneakily as she could to find her place next to Harry and Ron without disturbing the first years waiting to be sorted.

"Ravenclaw!", the sorting hat cheered, as a girl that looked very much like a young Hermione jumped off the stool and towards her new house, excitement in her eyes.

When Hermione sat down, Harry merely sent her a smirk, as if saying 'I told you so' when he suggested the she sleep on the train as she would be tired later. Hermione blushed furiously and flattened down her hair, which was poofy from being slept on. She watched on a the jumble of first years were sorted, cheering when right, and merely smiling when not.

Dumbledore stood after the sorting had finished, and let the school song. Rons voice broke as he sang along, causing all those around him to break into wild laughter.

"I would like to announce this years head students.", Dumbledore drawled, his eyes landing on both Draco and Hermoine, signalling for them to stand. Hermione and Draco stood, awestruck as their classmates began to cheer for them.

"These students are the epitome of their house. Cunning and loyal, brave and honest. This is what Hogwarts will always stand for.", Hermoine blanched at Dumbledores words. Malfoy? Honest? Loyal? There must have been a mistake. All Malfoy was was a _git_. A _slimy, slimy git_.

For what might have been the hundredth time, Hermione was reading

'Hogwarts, A History'. A very ominous creak sounded from the stairs, and though momentarily confused, Hermione thought nothing of it.

"Already in bed, are we?", Draco smirked, advancing further into the room. Hermione snapped her book shut and glared. How dare he enter her room without her consent! Draco continued to walk further into the room, and was beginning to look through her bookshelf, something that not even she had yet done.

Hermione stood abruptly and pushed Draco away from the self. He smiled triumphantly and looked down at the mousy little witch. What did Granger think he was going to do? Mess up her books?

"Get the hell out of my room, Malfoy.", she said as she puffed up her chest. Draco chuckled at her attempt to appear bigger than she was. He still towered over her, and would leave when he was ready to. Luckily for her, he had not planned to stay long.

"Your room is different from mine, Granger. I don't have a bookshelf.", Draco's eyes gleamed mischievously as he picked at one of the quills resting on the desk, "Though I do have a much bigger bed. I suppose they were designed for what the professors thought we would be doing, and even you must know that I hardly ever sleep alone. Enjoy your books, mudblood."

"Goodbye, Malfoy.", Hermione called, slamming her door shut as he backed out of her room.

* * *

Draco woke up with the worst head ache he'd ever had. He groaned, wanting nothing more than to stay in bed all day, though he knew he couldn't start the year off by missing the first day of classes. He looked over at his clock, and realized he only had an hour before his first class. Reluctantly, he threw the covers off of himself. He padded his way over to his closet and grabbed a new clean uniform. Heading down to the bathroom, he thought about the previous day. Chuckling at the memory of Hermione bravely protecting her precious books, Draco proceeded to shower. After he finished, he pulled his clothes on and made his way up to his room to grab his books. His first class was advanced Ancient Runes, which was located on the other side of the castle. He made his way down to the common room just as Hermione was stepping through the enlarged hole into the hallway outside their dormitory. He thought about ridiculing her some more, and hurriedly followed.

"How'd you sleep, Granger?", Draco asked the surprised girl.

"Actually, I had a _horrible _nightmare. Oh _wait_, that wasn't a nightmare. _You really are alive_.", she sneered. Looking at him with distaste in her eyes. He smirked at her attempt to insult him; she would have to do better than that to get a reaction out of him. He noticed that her robes were skewed and some milky skin was peaking through. Draco took this as an opportunity.

"Your robes are a tad off-center, and I can honestly say that I am not enjoying the view. Only I would get stuck with the most hideous girl in Hogwarts as my Head Girl.", he sighed, quickening his pace and leaving her behind. Draco noted that what he predicted before was correct: he didn't feel all that better after ridiculing her, partly because he knew that there were far less pretty girls than Hermione Granger (and that a third year probably could have come up with a better insult).

* * *

Ancient Runes was a dreadfully long class. Draco sat next to Blaise, the person he would call his best friend. Blaise looked over at him and smirked before putting his attention back into the lesson. He was a model Slytherin, but the reason Draco took to him so easily is because he was a good listener. The rest of Draco's classes seemed to go the same way: he sat, the teacher talked, and Granger stared at the back of his head. He ignored her of course, he'd rather be stuck with Pansy Parkinson for the rest of his life than let her think that he noticed her existence. When lunch came though, he immediately took the thought back.

"What the hell is it that you want, Parkinson?", Draco yelled, too annoyed to care anymore. The girl was literally pushing herself onto his lap, not even noticing that she had just spilt Draco's lunch onto the ground.

"Drakie! I just wanted to know what you wanted to, you know, do tonight.", she tried, and failed, if he did say so himself, to say seductively.

"Don't call me that.", he seethed. Draco had learned at a very young age that his name was not one to be joked around with. There was nothing good that could come from trying to make a nick-name out of 'Draco'.

"We're in a relationship, Drakie! Its only natural that we do... stuff.", she winked at him. He shuddered, not at the thought of sex, but sex with Pansy...

"For the thousandth time, we are not in a relationship.", Draco sighed. He was tired, and this girl was pushing his buttons. He looked over towards the Gryffindor table, searching for one specific brown-haired girl. To his surprise she was nowhere to be seen.

He supposed that he really shouldn't care, and began to ask himself a question that would follow him around all day.

'_Why are you even looking in the first place?'_

* * *

Hermione spent her day in the most unproductive way she could think of: trying to figure out clever come backs for the next time Malfoy mocked her. She was still full on peeved about what he had said to her this morning.

_"Only I would get stuck with the most hideous girl in Hogwarts as my Head Girl."_

Sure, she knew this wasn't true, but then in the same, it _might_ have been. She didn't think much of her looks, and didn't tend to compare herself to others, but when she entered the Great Hall and saw Parkinson draped over Malfoy's lap, she had second thoughts. Images of her and Draco smiling together, hand in hand flooded her mind.

_What in the bloodly hell was that?_ She thought to herself. She hated Draco, didn't she? Could she truly hate anyone? Had the war allowed her to hate without reason?

Hermione left the Great Hall without eating, for she wasn't sure if she could sit in the same room with Draco without getting up and dragging Pansy off his lap.

Hermione made her way to her last class of the day, only just now realizing how long she had been lost in her thoughts. She ran in just as Snape was about to start the lesson, he was not pleased.

"Ten points from Gryffindor. I don't tolerate tardiness, Ms. Granger. Not even from Head Girl.", keeping her head down, Hermione went and sat in the nearest open seat, not paying attention to who she was sitting next to.

"Just can't get enough of me, can you?", Draco laughed, earning him a deathly stare from Snape. Hermione's eyes went wide with shock, mostly at the sound of Draco's laugh, but partly because he hadn't actually insulted her or told her to leave. He simply made a joke. She wasn't sure how to react.

Draco said nothing for the rest of the class period, instead doodling on his parchment, not even bothering to pretend like he was paying attention (little did she know he was actually writing and rewriting the ruins he had been given to memorize). Hermione's eyes flicked over towards him on their own accord. His hand lay so close to hers. All she would have to do is move her hand a centimeter to the left... And she did. When they touched she quickly retracted her own hand, shocked at the electricity that made its way through her.

"Ms. Granger, if there is something that is more worth your attention than my class, please, leave.", Snape snapped at her.

"I'm sorry, sir. I was just distracted.", she whispered back.

"I admit, Mr. Malfoy is a charming fellow, and quite interesting as well, but please save your personal life for after my class."

Draco swore that Snape was bonkers. He felt his cheeks colour and turned his eyes down to the desk, burning small little holes in his parchment. How dare Granger embarrass him in front of his fellow Slytherins. How dare she embarrass him at all!

His eyes flicked over towards the bushy haired girl, not expecting to see her looking back at him with confusion in her eyes and a heavy blush covering her face. He groaned, why couldn't he just blend in for one second of his life? Draco's eyes swept the room, staring down everyone that even looked his way.

Draco Malfoy was not happy.

* * *

**The end of the first chapter. I believe I will do twice weekly updates depending of whether this story is received well. As always, keep it real. **


	2. 2

The first day of classes were over. Hermione felt like she made a fool of herself. Draco was very obviously pissed off; he stared at her for a better part of Potions with a murderous look in his eyes. Before the class could even be properly dismissed he had rushed out of the room.

Hermione found her way to the Gryffindor portrait and whispered the password, "Unicorn blood."

The painting swung open and she made her way through the hole, looking for the two nitwits she called best friends. They were sitting by the fire, and of course, playing a game of wizard chess. To this day it amazed her that how the pieces brutally destroyed each other.

"Hermione!", Ginny squealed, running down the stairs that led to the girls rooms. She hugged Hermione, showing no intention of ever letting ago. Hermione put her arms around the red-headed girl and squeezed.

"I saw you only yesterday! You act as though its been years!", Hermione laughed. Holding her tighter. Harry and Ron got up from where they were playing and walked over. She untangled herself from Ginny and gave Harry a hug.

"I miss having you around all the time, 'Mione.", he whispered, causing her to hold him tighter.

"I miss you, too."

Ron was next. During the war, they had kissed and it was so full of passion and love, but now they just fell flat. She saw him advancing and turned her head slightly, turning it into a sweet but awkward kiss on the cheek. She looked down, embarrassed. Looking up at Ron's face, she knew he was confused, but decided to ignore it for the sake of being happy and pulled her in for a hug.

They all laughed and exchanged stories before Hermione had to go back to her own rooms, feeling slightly better and slightly worse.

* * *

Hermione walked towards the Heads dorm, hoping to get some homework done in front of the fireplace. As she approached where she thought the hole should be, she heard a thump.

_That's peculiar._ She wondered to herself. _Not very many people travel these corridors._

Turning back towards the wall, she noticed that the smell indentation that allowed her entrance to her common room was nowhere to be seen. Had she taken a wrong turn? Spinning around, she found herself face to face with Draco Malfoy.

"I was hoping to have a word with you, Granger.", Malfoy said quietly.

"Did you follow me down here, Malfoy?", Hermione huffed, cold and annoyed.

"If you mean to tell me that you meant to take a wrong turn a few corridors back and walk nearer and nearer to the old Hogwarts torture chambers, than no, I did not follow you. I _saved_ you.", he said smugly, a ghost of a smirk on his face.

Hermione recoiled as though she had been slapped in the face. She needed no savior! Stomping her foot as though she were a four-year old, Hermione started walking in the direction that Draco had come from, hoping to find her dormitory before he tried to talk to her again.

"Excuse me!", he shouted, striding after her, "I believe I said that I wanted to have a conversation with you!"

"It takes two to have a conversation, you're just wasting your breath.", Hermione sneered, not turning around to see the look of admiration on Draco's face.

_That was pretty good..._ He thought, mystified that the brainiac could come up with such a clever come-back.

The truth was, it took Hermione nearly all day to come up with that come-back. She smiled proudly to herself, relieved that her words had seemed to shut Draco up.

Draco stared at Hermione and wondered what it was he wanted to say to her in the first place, at this very moment all he could think of doing was making fun of first years with her, and perhaps kicking around a few friendly insults.

But that was impossible, for he was _pure_, and she _dirty_.

* * *

Hermione had eventually found her dormitory, and Draco had eventually found his words. He wanted to kick himself for allowing a girl to shut him up like that. He hadn't even gotten a chance to give her a good scare after embarrassing him!

Draco had a plan formulating. He wasn't sure exactly what he wanted to do, but he knew that it would hurt, and that he would need Blaise's help.

It took a bit of self-control not to reach out and punch Blaise in the face. The second Draco had entered the Slytherin common room, Blaise had looked over at him and shouted, "NO."

"I need you to do a favor for me, Blaise.", Draco sighed, not really wanting to ask him for help.

"Oh hell no, Draco! Your not dragging me into your problematic love life!", Blaise snickered.

"What does this have to do with my love life!", Draco yelled, too exasperated to understand a word that Blaise was saying.

"I saw you and Pansy this morning! You can break up with her yourself.", Blaise stuck his nose in the air, mocking first year Draco, who often had done the same thing.

"This has to do with mudblood Granger, Blaise, not Pansy."

Blaise had a thoughtful look on his face, "All right", he drawled, "Let me in on this little scheme of yours."

* * *

All eyes were on Blaise Zabini as he strode across the Great Hall, leaving his table and nearing Gryffindor house's. Draco watched him from his spot at Slytherins table, Pansy talking his ear off about her hair and other inane nonsense. Blaise leaned towards Granger and whispered the lines that the boys had rehearsed earlier.

"Let's say you and me go grab a butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks this Saturday?"

Hermione was caught off guard, and Blaise left before she could respond.

A light blush could be seen on both Hermione Granger and Blaise Zabini's faces, though one was better at masking it that the other.

* * *

Draco sat alone in Potions for next few days; Blaise kept sitting next to a very stiff looking Hermione. Draco had told Pansy if she even thought about sitting next to him, there would be no hair for her to complain about anymore. He clicked his tongue and waited, watching his little play things talk. It was frustrating, not knowing what they were saying, but he knew he would get a full report from Blaise after class.

"I demand silence in my class room!", Snape yelled, the doors slamming shut behind him as he walked briskly into the classroom. Draco swore he heard a Gryffindor yelp. Snape turned on his heel when he reached his desk and stared down the snarky Gryffindor that had the nerve to laugh at his entrance. Draco looked over at Hermione, her mouth hanging wide open while looking at Blaise, who was looking at his fingernails as though they were the Queens jewels.

Draco scowled. Not even he could get that kind of reaction out of Granger by only talking to her. Knowing that those thoughts were best left alone, he started to take notes on the potion that they would be brewing next week, but only because he knew that Hermione would need to copy them.

_Since when did I start doing things to help Granger?_

* * *

Hermione rushed out of the Potions classroom, not really sure what to say, what to do, or what to think. It seemed like Slytherins were just finding their way into her life, and not by her choice. It wasn't that she didn't like Blaise, but he was Blaise. Her mind traveled to Draco... Indecision swept over her. She knew that she would have to speak to him eventually, but the knot in her stomach told her that it could wait.

With a sigh, Hermione rushed to her dormitory. As the entrance began to shrink back into a small hole, Hermione found herself wanting to cry. She missed her parents, she missed her friends, and most of all she wanted to stop thinking about Draco. It took eight years of taunting from him to get her to hate him, and in three days he had pushed her farther than she thought she could go, but how did she feel about it? He touched her things, walked with his nose in the air, insulted her... Those weren't good things, were they? It wasn't as though he ever helped her.

But Hermione couldn't stop thinking about if he could really be as bad as she thought he was, or rather, who Harry had always said he was. She would have be considered ignorant or stupid to believe that the war hadn't changed him at all.

Climbing into bed and burrowing under her covers, Hermione fell into a dreamless slumber.

* * *

"Draco, please explain to me what exactly you plan on gaining from messing with the Granger girl?", Blaise inquired as they walked down the corridor to the Slytherin dorm.

"I want her to know that not everything is sunshine and rainbows.", Draco said bitterly.

"You don't think she already knows that? Don't be stupid, Draco. She lived through the same war that you and I did.", Blaise scowled, speaking a tad too loudly for Dracos liking.

"But she didn't have to live with that _thing_. She treats me like I'm less than dirt.", Draco hissed, "I want you to feed her lies. I want you to show her a good time and then convince her that it was all fake. I want to mess with her, Blaise. I want her to know how much control I really have over her life."

"And you've just assume I'm going to go along with this scheme of yours?"

Draco glared at Blaise, who just went from confident to down right scared.

"All right man, all right. I'll bugger off. Just don't look at me like that, you're one freaky dude when you wanna be.", Blaise gulped.

"Thanks, mate, thanks.", Draco smirked.

The pair planned until Draco thought it would be best for him to return to his own dorm. He and Hermione had patrol tonight, and he had to finish his homework before hand. While grades weren't very important to him, they were to his family, which meant he was going to do whatever it took to make sure they were perfect.

* * *

Draco muttered the password, tapped his wand three times, and entered his dorm, coming upon a very tired and irritable Hermione who had just woken up from her nap. Her hair was a mess and she was still wrapped in a blanket. Draco saw a flash of skin when she dropped the blanket, but soon it was gone. Her shirt was bundled up so it was only a view of her lower back, but either way, he wasn't complaining.

Draco considered making his presence known, and decided to use this opportunity to play with his roommate. He snuck up behind Hermione, silent as the darkness, and tickled her sides. She jumped up in the air and started to scream, a mix of terror and enjoyment. She turned and saw that it was Draco and her smiled wavered. Her hand instantly found her want.

She wondered what he could want, and eyed him skeptically.

He smirked and strode away from the blushing witch, making himself at home in front of the fire.

"What is it you want, Malfoy?", Hermione asked, no longer smiling.

"I saw an opportunity and I took it.", he shrugged, ignoring how stupid he sounded.

Hermione found herself more confused than she was before.

"I'm planning do my homework here, so if you're going to just stand there and gawk at me, you may as well make yourself useful and start researching the potion we are making in class.", Draco said, picking up one of his books off the table beside him, "Oh, and remember, we're to patrol tonight.".

"Patrols! I completely forgot!", Hermione whispered to herself, she was going to have to start her homework too if she wanted to get any of it done tonight. Sighing, she pulled out her Muggle Studies notes and started to work on an essay that was due next week.

Draco started his homework and tried to ignore his headache, not too much avail. Hermione had joined him in the common room, though she sat across from him on the gold couch. They worked in compatible silence. Neither speaking until it was time to leave.

Hermione straightened up her papers and stood, walking over to the hook where her cloak hung. It was unnaturally chilly in the caste today, and she didn't want to catch a cold. Draco grabbed his cloak as well, and followed Hermione into the corridor.

They walked in silence. It was a slow night, and about an hour in Hermione sighed. She was tired and they weren't finding much. They had sent two couples snogging in broom closets back to their dorms with detention slips, directed a first year Ravenclaw to his dormitory, and pulled apart two Slytherin and Gryffindor students that were about to duel. Draco's eyes kept traveling to Hermione, peeking at her when he got the chance. He looked and saw the she was looking at him.

"Why are you looking at me?", Draco accused, his eyebrows drawn together in confusion.

"I could ask you the same thing.", Hermione sneered.

"I was just checking to make sure you hadn't run off and abandoned your duties.", he sneered back.

"That's something only you would do! I happen to take this very seriously! Why don't you just shut up and look for students over there!", she pointed down a long hall that was opposite to where they were looking.

"Because we're supposed to stay together, you know-it-all pest!", Draco was done playing. He was tired, annoyed, and bored. A horrible combination when one had to deal with such an insufferable partner.

"How about we just agree we were both looking at each other and get this over with!", Hermione yelled, she was too tired to fight with the ferret today. The constant bickering was starting to annoy her to no end.

"Fine.", he grumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking at the floor. Draco was still curious about why she had looked at him, and why he was sneaking peeks at her. He looked over again just as she peeked over at him, and both looked away, shy smiles gracing both of their faces. The pair ignored that the other was smiling, and continued to search for unsuspecting students to give detentions.

* * *

The next morning Hermione woke, smiling at dream she had just had. It had been of her mother. She hadn't felt so at home in a long time. Recalling her night, Hermione admitted that for an annoying twit, Malfoy wasn't too bad of company and, made looking for students an adventure. She hoped that whatever had come over him would stay, she really did feel uncomfortable hating people.

She grabbed her toiletries, Hermione descended the stairs and went in to the bathroom to get ready for the day. After a nice shower, she pulled on her clothes and tried to tame her unruly hair. To her surprise, she actually looked nice. Smiling at her reflection, she grabbed her things and headed to her room. After making her bed and grabbing her things, she peeked into Draco's room, to scold him for sleeping in. Surprisingly, there was no one there. She hadn't heard him leave... Realizing there was only a half an hour before her first class, Hermione went back down into the common room, only to see Draco Malfoy leaning against the wall next to the entrance to the corridor..

"You sure are slow.", he smirked, waiting for her to join him. Hermione sneered back at him and followed him down to the Great Hall, where they departed to go to their respective tables.

"Did I just see you and Draco Malfoy walking together?", an excited Ginny attacked her from behind, joining her at the Gryffindor table.

"Yeah, I suppose you did.", Hermione mused, grabbing a piece of toast and putting some strawberry jam on it. After taking a big bite, she looked over at a waiting Ginny.

"So, are you two friends?", the bubbly redhead asked, a smile playing on her lips.

"I don't think so, he doesn't really like me.", Hermione shrugged, taking another bite of her food.

"Then why is he staring at you?", Ginny giggled, watching a shocked Hermione look over at the light eyed boy who was indeed staring at her.

* * *

Hermione looked out the window from her common room and watched the rain fall. The window was charmed to show her a view from one of the tower windows, for her own dorm was underground. Autumn was coming and the leaves were starting to turn. The mix of green and yellow enchanted her.

Draco stood behind to Hermione, trying to see what it was she found so interesting. It was a gray day, the rain fell and thunder cracked. He recoiled from the sound, he wasn't a big fan of storms.

It had been two weeks since he and Blaise had started their 'mission', and it was going along swimmingly.

Hermione had thought Blaise was kidding about the Three Broomsticks thing, and was quite surprised when he grabbed her hand and pulled her into the restaurant. They had a nice time: Blaise told some mediocre jokes that made her laugh, they swapped stories, and talked about classes.

Draco sighed, thinking of the war that had just ended. The fight had only just ended, and now he had started something entirely new. He was tired.

Hermione pushed away from the window, the swirling gray clouds dampening her mood. While the scene was beautiful, it pained her to watch. The wind blew and whistled through the halls. Hermione walked over to the roaring fire and sat in front of it, captivated by the flickering flames.

Draco saw Hermione start to lean into the flames of the fire, not even aware of what she was doing. He pulled her back and she looked up with him with deep sorrow in her eyes. He could only wonder what had happened to put that there, what scornful memory she was thinking of.

"Get up, Granger. I think its time for you to go to bed. I'll patrol on my own tonight.", Draco scowled, kicking at the floor around her until she scurried up.

Without so much as a backwards glance, Hermione left Draco alone.

Draco walked through the corridors, though he really wasn't in the mood to bark at people and stumble upon his fellow students snog sessions. He decided to head down to the Slytherin common room, hoping to find some company.

He entered the room only to find one Pansy Parkinson snogging with Theodore Nott. Draco groaned, this was exactly what he was trying to avoid.

"Oh, Drakie! You've come for me at last! Get off of me, Nott!", she yelled, fumbling with the buttons on her shirt and running over to him.

_Well, I've got nothing to lose. _Draco thought to himself, pulling Pansy out of the common room and towards an abandoned classroom. The moment the door closed she was all over him. He grabbed her wrists and pinned her to the wall, knowing that it would hurt her.

"Drakie! What are you doing?", Pansy giggled, ignoring the pain because that's what she thought she should do. She leaned forward the best she could and pushed her mouth onto his. Licking his bottom lip, Draco gave her entrance. She shoved her tongue in his mouth and tried to battle his non-responsive one. He had thought this would make him feel better, but really he just felt dirty. This girl had been with Nott only minutes ago, so who was to say she wouldn't be with another guy minutes after she was done with him?

Draco pushed away from Pansy and left her in the room, rushing back to his own dorm, scowling the whole way.

* * *

Hermione laid in bed, wanting nothing more than to fall asleep and dream. She sighed and got up, wrapping a blanket around her. She wasn't going to fall asleep anytime soon, so she may as well do something. She went down to the common room and picked up the book she was reading. She snuggled into the silver couch because it was closer to the fire than her gold one. Just as she was getting into the story, the portrait swung open and an angry Draco walked in, yelling curses this way and that. He didn't notice that she was there and continued to rant on.

"I should have just patrolled with bloody Granger.", he scowled, turning around to see a shocked Hermione a second too late. "Fuck, fuck, fuck! Of course you're here. I'm such an idiot. For the sake of all the is good in the world, Granger, can we please just kill Pansy?" He continued to fume in silence while Hermione stared open-mouthed at him.

"You aren't an idiot, your second best in our class.", she piped in. She was taken aback when Draco walked over and sat on the couch with her, pulling her legs into his lap and looking at her intensely.

"Please, dear Granger, educate me. Who would ever want second best?"

She gulped and looked around, anywhere but his pained face. What could she say to that?

"Just because you aren't at the top of your class doesn't mean people aren't going to want you.", she whispered, knowing how true her words were. She was at the top, but still in the bottom. Who would want a know-it-all book-worm?

"But you see, Granger. It does. Charm only gets you so far in the world. My family name, my money, my looks they are nothing if I don't have the grades to back them. I have to work for grades, the other things just fell into my lap.", he rambled on.

Hermione thought about what Draco had just told her, and knew he was right. She stood up and began to walk away, before stopping and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry.", she said. Draco stiffened at Hermiones touch, he didn't like how good it felt. He didn't like how warm she made him feel. She nodded in understanding as he shifted away from her, embarrassed.

As Hermione walked away, Draco began to wonder: who had changed more? Her or him? He was no longer the boy who she punched in the face in third year, and she was no longer the girl he used to torment.

They had both grown up, if only just a little.

* * *

**Here is the second instalment of 'Gits and Know-It-Alls. I felt as though I should update a bit more just so you have more than a tiny taste for the story. I have about six chapters after this done, I am simply editing them. Keep it real. **


	3. 3

Hermione slammed her book down on her desk, groaning with frustration. Today couldn't have been any worse. Draco was in a bad mood, the weather was gross, and she had basically failed her Divination test. Hermione just couldn't read the tea leaves for her life, and in turn got a big fat D. It was better than a T, but not be that much. She pushed away from her desk and went down to the common room to see the wonderful face of an annoyed ferret.

"What's got you so down, ferret?", Hermione sneered with annoyance, he was being such a bugger today and she was sick of it.

"Since when do I have to tell you anything, bookworm?", Draco was out to kill. He wanted to fight. Today had been the worst day of his life (or at least one of them). He had gotten a letter from the ministry, they wanted him to be a witness in the trial that determined whether his father got the dementors kiss. He wanted nothing more to do with the man, but that didn't mean he wanted to send him to Azkaban. For Salazars sake, it was his father they were talking about.

"I always forget the behind that sneer you're not a ferret, but an _ass_.", Hermione huffed, wanting to reach out and smack the bastard. Draco stood and got right in Hermione's face.

"You're the one that started it, mudblood."

Once the words were out there, he couldn't take them back, and at the moment he didn't want to. Hermione's hand reached out and she slapped him with all of her strength, making him take a step back. She glared at him and rushed out of the common room. She couldn't be around him without saying something vile and stupid that she, being the kind-hearted witch she was, would ultimately regret.

She turned the corner that would bring her towards the Gryffindor dormitory when she walked into what seemed like a brick wall. She was about to fall back when a pair of hands shot out and caught her.

"Watch where you're going, Granger. We don't want you getting hurt.", Blaise chuckled, pulling her into a hug. Hermione blushed and looked up at Blaise. She wasn't sure where she stood with him. He had listened to her, and owled her often (much to the brunettes surprise and her friends dismay, he is a Slytherin, after all).

Blaise caught Hermiones eyes. She saw a glimmer in her eyes that she couldn't place, when all of a sudden his lips were on hers. Rather then pushing him off of her as though his lips were poison, like she imagined she would do if a Slytherin were ever to kiss her, Hermione found herself becoming dizzy. Or at least that's what she would say if anyone were to find her leaning into the Slytherins kiss.

"I could give you a detention for that.", Ginny mocked. Hermione immediately pulled away, nearly falling on her bottom. Blaise pulled Hermione back to him and chuckled, looking much more calm than the brunette next to him, a soft blush seen creeping up her neck..

"Gin! Go away!", Hermione whispered to her, fully aware that Blaise could hear her. She answered with a laugh and turned on her heel, walking away.

"Detention with you could be fun.", Blaise mused, pulling on her hand and walking her down the corridor.

"Where were you headed?", Hermione asked, looking down at their intertwined hands: his so large, and hers so small.

"Actually, to see Draco. He had asked me to come over earlier today."

Hermione grumbled at the thought of Draco. His words stung (and that's what he meant for them to do). He wanted to hurt her. She smirked as she thought about how she smacked him. She hoped it hurt, she hoped it stung, she hoped it left a mark for everyone to see.

Blaise looked down at the peculiar girl. He had to admit, he was starting to get attached to her. In the end, he knew it would pain him to hurt her. If only the circumstances had been different and they got together by themselves. _The plan. _It sounded so dirty.

"I suppose I'll let you go talk to _it._", Hermione grimaced, pulling her hand out of Blaise's grip and stopping for a moment.

"Ah. Let me guess, you two had a fight?", by the look on her face and the malice in her voice, Blaise knew he was right.

"It was nothing. I'm just going to take a break and visit my friends."

She looked pained. _What did the bastard do this time? _Blaise thought, a tinge of sadness tainting his anger. He kissed her hand and departed.

* * *

"What in the bloody hell did you do to make her so sad?", Blaise yelled, bursting into the common room.

Draco looked at him with fire in his eyes, "What did I do? It's what she did! For such a smart girl, she sure acts stupid."

"And you think I actually believe that? She's hurt Draco. I could see it in her eyes."

"What are you talking about? You act as though she has feelings and thoughts that aren't centered around being better than everyone else." Draco scowled, pulling at his hair. Who knew one girl could cause him so much frustration?

"She's a human being, Draco. Of course she has feelings. And you hurt them. Apologize.", Blaise demanded, clenching his fists.

"Your being a bloody fool! Do you actually care for the girl? Is that what you're trying to say? Fine. Get out.", Draco pointed towards the exits.

Blaise looked at the poor boy and sneered, "I hope you realize what an ass you are someday."

_Because I don't hear that all the time. _Draco thought darkly. He looked out the window, trying again to see what Hermione saw. It was dark out and the rain was falling harder than he had ever seen it before. There was a flash of lightning quickly followed by a crack of thunder. He grimaced, this was turning out to be one horrible day.

* * *

Days were turning into weeks. Dracos ego kept him from Hermione, the way Hermiones pride kept her from Draco.

* * *

Hermione gathered her things and exited her room, she headed down the stairs and saw Draco laying on the silver couch reading a book (little did she know it was upside down and he was really there because he had actually thought of a clever insult to use on her). He looked over at her with hard eyes, his tongue-tied. She turned and quickly walked out of the room, leaving him behind.

Neither of the heads had spoken to each other since the _incident_.

Hermione saw Blaise leaning on the wall outside of the dorm, and smiled. They were in a very weird stage (meaning they wanted to snog eachother senseless but Blaise was trying to be a gentleman and Hermione didn't know if she would be breaking the rules by kissing Blaise). He smirked and grabbed her hand, pulling her with him towards the Great Hall. Halloween was fast approaching, and the corridors were decorated with bewitched pumpkins and ghouls. Every so often you would come across a floating bloody appendage. They entered the hall and parted without a backwards glance.

"I still can't believe you're dating Zabini.", Harry stated as Hermione sat down, eyeing the Slytherin in question. Ron looked up at her from his meal and nodded in agreement with Harry, before shoveling food into his mouth. He ate as though he was never going to eat again.

"And I still can't believe you and Ginny are fighting over something as stupid as you not wanting to go shopping with her this Saturday in Hogsmeade.",and added, in a much quieter voice, "And Blaise and I are just friends."

"I don't want to spend my whole day shopping!", he whined, completely missing Hermiones second point.

"You're going because she's your girlfriend and you want to spend time with her.", Hermione sighed, sometimes boys were so stupid.

"Look who decided to join us.", Harry snarled. Hermione turned to see what had gotten him in such a bad mood when she saw Draco walk in. He hadn't eaten in the Great Hall since they had fought. Not that she had kept track... His eyes turned to hers, and she saw a flash of feeling that disappeared just as quickly as it had come.

She bit her lip, she wanted the silence between them to end. The duo had gotten to be fairly cooperative in the first few weeks of school, enough that Hermione had started to care about whether he would die or not.

If only she knew he felt the same way, but was too proud to admit it. The moment Hermione's eyes had met his, Draco was filled with guilt. He wouldn't even know where to begin when it came to apologizing. He didn't even really want to apologize.

He sat next to Blaise, who looked over at him with a touch of sadness in his eyes.

"Just say you're sorry, man."

Draco sighed. _If only it were that easy._

* * *

Draco sat by himself in the common room, staring out the window into the never-ending darkness. He wasn't really sure why he decided to go eat in the Great Hall that morning, he wasn't sure why he would do that to himself.

He really just wasn't sure about anything anymore.

Mostly Hermione. What was it with this girl? When did her company turn from forced to wanted? When had their comradely stopped being anything more than part of a plan?

When had he started to develop _real _feelings for her? He scowled at that thought.

He heard the wall open and slowly turned around. Hermione just looked at him, neither moving.

"Hello.", he said. His eyes never leaving hers. He was tired of the silence. He wanted to hear her laugh and have her tell him about how stupid everyone in their Potions class was. He wanted to sit with her and hold her hands and brush her hair out of her face. Was it wrong for him to be wanting these simple things?

Hermione knew that their past would never allow them to be anything more than acquaintances. She knew that he was who he was, and that she couldn't expect him to forget everything he had been taught.

She looked at him one last time before rushing out of the dorm.

Only this time he wouldn't be waiting for her to come back.

He chased her, his cloak billowing behind him. She may have had a head start, but he was faster. He heard a chuckle and saw Hermione in Blaise's arms.

"We really need to stop meeting like this, love.", Blaise joked, steadying his girlfriend and pulling her into an embrace.

Draco froze. They were so happy.

_Look at the way she's smiling. _Draco thought. It was simply heartbreaking.

Blaise looked up and caught a blur of blond. He sighed, Draco was so lost. His arms tightened around Hermione, knowing that soon this would be something he couldn't do.

"So how are things with the impossible twit?", he tickled her.

Hermione wiped away the tears after breaking from Blaise's tickle attack, "He spoke to me today."

"And what did he say?"

She looked down at her shoes, "Hello."

"And what did you say back?", he asked quizzically.

"I didn't.", she whispered.

"Well then what did you do?"

She looked up at him, shame written all over her face, "I ran away from him."

"Perhaps you could have handled that a little better, aye?.", Blaise nodded. Feeling the smile slowly melt off his face.

"What's wrong?", he whispered.

She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, and whispered into his ear.

"I just don't think I can deal with losing anyone else."

He pulled her close and let her go, running in the direction that he had seen Draco.

Draco didn't know where he was headed, he just needed to think. It was strange, he always felt like he just needed to think.

The war had changed him in ways that he was afraid to show. He still knew that wizards were supposed to regard muggles as dirty and that one should judge muggle born witches and wizards, but that didn't mean that he wanted to. It didn't mean he was interested in muggle affairs, though, he still thought they were barbaric.

Shouldn't the wizarding community be fascinated in muggle borns? They came from a non-magic family, and had magic. What was cooler than that? They made their own magic, and because of that they were supposed to be looked down on?

Everything his father had taught him about muggle-borns was wrong. Or was it?

Since when had his life become such a mess?

Draco began to climb the stairs, allowing himself to go on autopilot for just a second. Draco stumbled upon an abandoned room unlike any other, it was small, yet reasonably sized. There were two glass doors leading out to a balcony. He stepped out on the ledge and his mouth dropped open: this was the same view that he had in the common room. He turned around and walked back inside, surprised to see that he was in a completely different room.

_Ah, its seems I've walked right into the Room of Requirement. _Draco had been in this room a few times, though he wished not to think of his past ventures. They had been for dark reasons, ones that had only caused him pain.

Sighing, he slumped against a wall, slowly letting himself sink onto the floor.

He had always been so harsh to Hermione, hurting her by hurting her friends and carelessly throwing hurtful words her way. Now it was only he who hurt.

Draco didn't know where to go or what to do, so he just sat there, listening to the ticking of a far off clock, wishing there was an easy answer for his troubles. He closed his eyes, and drifted into a world where his wildest dreams came true.

Blaise burst into the room, and looked down at a sleeping Draco. Frowning, he ran his hands through his dark hair.

"I wish he would wake up and see what's right in front of him, although at the same time I don't want to give it to him."

* * *

Hermione watched as Blaise ran away from her, she wanted desperately to follow him, to tell him what was on her mind. She thought that she knew what she wanted, but now all she could think of was the light eyed boy that she had originally ran away from. Hermione hated the thought of that: she had run away from him. After the war ended, she thought she would be done running.

She looked down the hall Blaise had gone down and started running. She needed to sort out what was real and what was fiction. She felt a pull on her arm and was pulled around, looking into the eyes of one angry, and by the smell of his breath, drunk Ronald Weasley.

"Where do you think your going, 'Mione?", he slurred, putting his hands all over her body. She struggled, trying to get away, but this just made him try harder.

He pushed her into a wall and she was trapped, there was nothing she could do. Her back hurt and she wanted nothing more than to go find Draco.

No. No. She was looking for Blaise, not Draco.

Ron pressed his mouth to hers, forcing her lips open. He assaulted her mouth with his tongue.

She bit down hard and tasted blood. He flew away from her, cursing like mad, and she grabbed her wand.

"Stay away from me, Ronald.", she warned, backing away from him slowly.

"You bloody witch! Look what you did!", he cursed, grabbing his own wand. He had sobered up a bit, the pain bringing him back into reality. He lowered his wand, appalled at what he had almost done. Hermione was frozen. Ron had never once made a move to attack her before.

"I am so sorry, 'Mione. I didn't mean it.", Ron dropped his wand and moved a shaking hand towards her.

Hermione once again was running through the corridors, back to the one place she had run from. Her feet slapped the cold rock floor. She wanted nothing more than to return Draco's hello.

_Draco._

She yelled out the password and tapped her wand on the stone three times. She entered and her eyes searched for him, though her body hesitated. Once sure he wasn't in the common room or lavatory, she ran up the stairs and stood outside his door.

Hermione tentatively knocked.

No answer.

She opened the door and peeked into see if he was sleeping.

No such luck.

She huffed, where was this boy?

_Why are you looking for him in the first place?_

Hermione crept further into Draco's room, taking it in around her. It was decorated much differently than hers. He was telling the truth when he said that he had a large bed, in fact, it took up a good quarter of the room. There were three brooms lined on the wall, a small table with a stack of books on it, and a good work desk.

She was surprised at how clean it was. This room was cleaner than hers. She sat on his bed and bounced a little. She took a deep breath, it felt as though he were there with her. Hermione tried to relax, allowing herself to get lost in her thoughts.

Hermione wasn't sure when it happened, but at some point she had snuggled deeper into Draco's bed and fallen asleep.

* * *

Draco could do nothing more than stare at the girl who was nestled in his bed. He really didn't want to wake her, but he was so curious to know why she had been in his room in the first place. Sighing, he walked out of his room and down to the common room, making himself a bed on the silver couch. With a flick of his wand, he lit a fire.

The flickering flames lulled him into a deep sleep.

He didn't dream that night, but that also meant he didn't have any nightmares.

* * *

Blaise watched Draco sleep before asking himself one very simple question: why had he not gone to sleep in his own room? Blaise walked up the stairs and noted the bundle in the middle of the bed. He saw her hair and immediately recognized her. As much as he hated himself for it, he was going to have to break her. Leave her shattered for Draco to pick up the pieces.

They both needed a wake up call, a painful wake up call.

Blaise walked out of the dorm, thinking back to the plan that he and Draco had drawn out so long ago.

_Who will this hurt more? Me, her, or him? _He pondered. The guilt and hurt that he felt was so strong that he struggled to breathe.

* * *

**Bloop bloop bloop. Keep calm carry on.**


	4. 4

Hermione woke up to see a tall blond boy leaning over her with a worried look on his face.

"Yes! Thank whatever it is that's looking out for me today! I thought I was going to have to wake you up!", Draco exclaimed, running his hands through his hair. He was so relieved that he didn't have to wake her, he wouldn't even know what to do!

Hermione looked at him like he was a mad. Where was she? Why would he have to wake her up? Slowly the scenery started to seep in, and she realized she had fallen asleep in his bed.

"Wha- Where did you sleep?", she squeaked, too embarrassed to look him in the eye.

"The common room.", he scowled. Those couches were not the most comfortable when one was being used as a bed.

Hermione stepped out of the bed and stretched out, fully aware that Draco was watching her every move.

"If you'll excuse me, I need to go prepare for class.", she yawned, putting her stoic face back in place, walking past him and out the door towards her own room. The first thing she checked when she entered the room was her appearance. She didn't look half bad for someone who had slept only minutes before. Deciding that a shower wasn't necessary, Hermione pulled on her school robes and ran a brush through her hair. She ran down the stairs and plucked her bag off of the floor where she had left it the day before, checked to see she had all her homework, and headed to breakfast. Draco waited until Hermione was gone before getting his things together. Though he would deny it if anyone asked, he loved the idea of her in his bed. Draco was the definition of a teenage boy, sometimes.

When he had eaten in the Great Hall yesterday, he seemed to have created a lot of attention for himself, and today he was trying to lay low, so he had the house elves bring him up a plate. Draco munched on the french toast they had given, which was a pleasant surprise. He expected something like an apple, maybe some granola. He hadn't realized exactly how hungry he had been.

Once done, he grabbed him things and headed to class, not knowing what trouble lie in store for him.

* * *

Hermione wasn't sure where to sit in the Great Hall. Harry was next to Ron, who was trying to get her attention by waving his hands in the air. Frowning, she made her way over and sat next to Neville, who until then was sitting alone.

"Well hello, Hermione!", he smiled, turning in his seat to look over at her.

"Hello, Neville. Did you sleep well last night? I remember how drafty the tower can be this late in the year.", she smiled back, glad to be having a conversation with someone who had always been her friend, through thick and thin. She and Neville had never not gotten along, they had never fought (except for that one unfortunate time in first year, when she did a full body bind on him...), and they enjoyed each others company.

"Eh. Seamus discovered some new heating charm, so it was actually pretty warm!"

"Have you heard anything from your Gram? I'm sure she's been missing you.", Neville blushed at her consideration. No one ever really asked him about his family.

"She misses me, and I her, but I'm going back for the holidays! I've been a tad homesick ever since, well. You know.", he looked at her longingly. The war had been great for Neville, it had helped him gain some confidence in himself, but at the same time she knew it was hard for him. He had wanted to be the one to kill Bellatrix LeStrange, and truthfully, he deserved it. Though Hermione knew that he would never admit to it. Neville was just nice.

"Ah yes. The winter holiday!", Hermione exclaimed. She would get to see her parents and other family!

"Are you going to be staying at Hogwarts? Or going to the Burrow?", Neville asked politely.

_Oh yeah. _The memory floated into Hermione's mind. Her parents weren't there for her to come home to this time. They weren't waiting with open arms and loving smiles.

The pain and the longing hit her like a ton of bricks. She wiped her eyes and smiled sadly at Neville.

"I think I'll be staying at Hogwarts this year."

Neville took one of her hands and rubbed it reassuringly. Hermione was taken aback by his consideration, but relaxed under his touch.

"Is there something you want to talk about? I'm a pretty good listener.", he whispered.

Hermione felt the tears starting to roll down her cheeks and wiped them away, silently thanking Neville.

"You know, I'd really like that. But not here. Meet me in the library after Potions?"

Neville nodded and they both returned to their food, Hermione trying her hardest to not burst into tears and Neville thinking of ways to comfort his friend.

* * *

The school day drew to a close and Hermione was exhausted. Ron was still trying to get her attention, Harry was looking at her strangely, Ginny had been busy with her other friends, and Blaise was acting off.

She met Neville at the door and they walked together. The silence between them was reassuring and comfortable, they could just _be. _She didn't need to explain herself or keep him entertained, they could just walk together. No questions or accusations. Just walking.

They went to a secluded area in the library and sat down on one of the couches that Hermione had insisted be moved in when she was in her first year. How many times had she ventured into the library and not resurfaced for hours? How many wonderful books had she devoured?

Neville didn't say anything, he waited for her to be ready, which she was grateful for.

"My mother and father...", she started, choking on the words. How would she ever be able to move on if she couldn't even say it out loud?

She smiled sadly and remembered all the times they called her their brave little girl.

"My mother and father died."

Neville looked down at her and sighed. If anyone knew how hard it felt to lose one's parents, it was him.

"I may not know exactly how you feel, but I've been in a similar situation. I can still remember them to this day, looking down at me with love in their eyes. I can hardly stand to even visit them sometimes...", he pulled her into a hug, "It's going to be alright, Hermione."

* * *

Draco watched Hermione rush from the Potions classroom with Longbottom. Where was she going? And why with Neville? He never had particularly liked the coward.

Draco turned to see Blaise walk up to him. He looked angry, clenching his firsts. In one huge blur, Blaise's fist connected with Draco's face. Draco fell back, trying to regain his balance. He smelt the blood and groaned, the pain starting to take its course.

He squinted, looking for the boy who had already stormed away.

_As if I'm going out without a fight. _Blaise thought deviously. As long as Hermione was his, he would fight for her. He would always protect her, he promised himself that no matter how or when their relationship ended, he would never hurt her. He threw his past plans away.

Draco was not going to take away what was _his._

* * *

Hermione and Neville went their separate ways, both smiling like idiots. They had the best conversation, and Hermione couldn't have been happier. She practically skipped to her dorm. She felt as though a great weight had been taken off her shoulders. It was nice to finally talk about what had happened with someone, and Neville was perfect for the job. He didn't pretend to know exactly how she felt, listened to her without interruption, and genuinely cared.

Blaise spotted Hermione and smiled, she looked so happy. She saw him and ran up, jumping into his arms.

"Blaise, I have to tell you something.", she whispered, happy that she finally understood her feelings.

"What?", he questioned, worried that this might be the end. Was that all he was going to think about when he was with her? That someday they wouldn't be together?

"I, Hermione Jean Granger, care about you, Blaise Zabini.", she whispered into his ear. She couldn't help but gasp as an adorable grin spread onto his face.

Blaise was overjoyed. He had just thought he would have to fight for her, that she was the wonderful prize he had to protect, when really, he had had her all along.

"Hermione, I care about you, too.", he pulled her closer, lightly kissed her, before pulling her into a deep, passionate kiss. He had never had this before. Normally all his relationships consisted of him screwing a girl and moving on. But not with _her._

"Lets go somewhere we can be alone.", she tugged on his bottom lip with her teeth. Blaise wasn't going to say no to that, he had been wanting to have sex with Hermione since they started being whatever they were.

Wait, when did being alone mean having sex? Blaise's mind was all over the place. Did she want this? Was that what she implied? Was he really going to screw Granger? His body screamed yes as they toppled into the Heads common room. Hermione took a moment to see if Draco was around, and tugged Blaise up the stairs. They tumbled onto her bed and spent a moment just looking at each other before resuming their passionate embrace.

And then, for the first time in his life, Blaise made love to the only person in the world that meant more to him than himself.

_Oh god, Hermione. What have you gotten yourself into? _He thought, kissing her head and she spooned into him.

* * *

Draco found his way back to his dorm, but only after going to Madam Pomfrey to get him face fixed. The git had broken his nose! Draco was furious with Blaise, but at the same time he was so confused. Why had Blaise hit him?

Draco shook it off, whispering the password incase anyone was listening in, tapped his wand three times, and made his way into the common room. The fire was out and it was chilly. He shivered, pulling out his wand and yelling, "Incendio!"

Draco drifted over to the silver couch, he had yet to sit on the gold one. He laid down and closed his eyes, today was Friday, which meant he would have all weekend to do his homework. His thoughts drifted to Hermione. She looked so sad the last time he saw her. He could only wish to know what was on her mind. He considered following her and Longbottom, but was kind of stopped short when Blaise hit him...

Where was she now? Still with the coward? Maybe with Potter and Weasel? Perhaps ever Weaselette or Blaise? He decided it would do him no good to worry, and drifted off into a deep sleep.

Blaise descended the stairs of his girlfriends dormitory, noticing a sleeping Draco. With a skip to his step, Blaise exited the dorm, pleased to see the bruise Draco sported under him left eye.

* * *

Ginny pouted at Harry, he was being so unreasonable! Why wouldn't he just go shopping with her? She had something she wanted to surprise him with, something that could repair their relationship that had been left tattered after the war. Death wasn't the only loss that the war had caused. People were still afraid of the danger that hid in dark alleyways and behind closed doors. The dark was no longer safe.

If Ginny was being honest with herself, she really was still afraid. They had all been to hell and back, and she wasn't even seventeen yet!

Harry sighed and frowned, "Fine."

Ginny's face lit up and he marched up to the boys dorm, looking for Ron. He had acted strange all day. He had been weird for a while now, mostly since Hermione had started getting more close to Blaise. He had actually been acting like this since the beginning of the year bash they had thrown, which Hermione had not attended.

"Come on, Ron. You can't be a grump about it forever. So she didn't come to the party, it's not like we exactly invited her to it anyway."

Ron looked up at Harry with a murderous look in his eyes, "I went looking for her."

Harry slapped his hand to his forehead, "What the bloody hell did you do you insufferable git? Is this why she's been avoiding us?"

"I didn't do anything!", Ron snapped, grabbing Harry by the shirt, pulling his close and pushing him away, "Just leave me alone."

"You didn't do anything? I'm not stupid. If that were true you wouldn't be sulking all alone up here like the prat you're turning into. Just give it up, you're the one that pushed her away. Merlin, your mood swings were enough to push _me _away, and I'm your best pal!", Harry threw his hands in the air.

"I insulted her and she won't let me apologize.", Ron spat, trying to convince Harry that his problems were all because Hermione wouldn't give him a chance to fix this..

"What else did you do? Why did you insult her?", Harry seethed, "Tell me, you bloody idiot!"

"I tried to kiss her!", Ron whispered, too quietly for Harry to hear. He had felt so rejected when she pushed him away. So angry that she had hurt him when he just wanted to give her pleasure.

Hermione had confided in Harry long ago, telling him that her feelings for Ron had changed. She saw him as a brother, not as a lover. Harry shivered, feeling how bad it must have been for Hermione. Telling the person she viewed as her brother that she wasn't going to have sex with him.

"Go away.", Ron growled, wallowing in self pity.

And so Harry did, grumbling and swearing as he slammed the door behind him. His best friend could sure be a git when he wanted to.

* * *

Hermione blew a kiss at Blaise, who being the goof he was, pretended to catch it and bring it to his lips. They were sitting at their respective tables in the Great Hall, him next to Draco and her next to Neville. The two had bonded over the last few days, ever since the fateful day that Hermione opened up to him. That wasn't the only sensational thing she had done that day, though...

She burst into giggles and Blaise adopted a very triumphant smirk on his face. He thought that his relationship with Hermione was the best thing that had ever happened in Hogwarts. She was _his, _and he loved it.

Hermione had been a tad apprehensive about going to the next level with Blaise, but this was the first person she had ever felt comfortable with in awhile. With Ron its was always push and pull, but now all she had to do was be. No pretenses, no fighting about the other not giving enough in the relationship.

"Hermione, what in world are you giggling about?", Neville questioned, smiling widely. He was happy that she was happy. He had seen her frown and cry more times than he could count in the last 8 years.

"Well, there happens to be a bumbling buffoon that has been let loose. See? He's right over there, sitting next to Malfoy.", she burst into more giggles, pointing at a pouting Blaise. He knew she was making fun of him, but he couldn't help but be giddy with excitement that she was even thinking of him. He had finally accepted that not everything had to be dark, somethings actually could be light and fun.

But then there was his mum. What would she say when he introduced Hermione to her? He knew she wouldn't approve, seeing as Hermione was muggle-born, but what could he do? This was the girl who he thought he _loved_. This was the girl that had changed him so completely.

"Draco, I really must thank you.", he whispered, punching his friend playfully in the arm. He was the brilliant bloke that came up with the idea of him asking out Hermione.

"Thank me for what?", Draco mused. He looked longingly over at Hermione. She was talking rather joyously with Neville. Draco smiled at the sight of her smiling, he never did get bored with looking at her.

"Hermione.", Blaise breathed. He was such a love struck idiot, and he knew it. He was surprised his fellow Slytherins hadn't kicked him out and sent him packing to be a Hufflepuff. He was getting rather soft lately...

"It's not like I gave her to you.", Draco snapped. Sometimes he forgot that Hermione wasn't his. The abuse he had felt growing up seemed to be nothing compared to the pain he put himself through to be trying to only be a friend to Hermione.

Blaise looked at the grumbling oaf and felt sorry for him. He still had a slight bruise on his cheek from where Blaise had clocked him a few days ago after potions. Blaise had simply brushed it off, saying that he was only protecting what was his. Both Slytherins knew that at some point things were going to get rough, but decided to ignore it for the sake of Hermione.

Hermione frowned at the troubled boys, something had been on their minds lately and they refused to talk about it. She was brought back into reality when Seamus scooted over and shoved a crumpet in her mouth, laughing like he thought he had just done the funniest thing in the world. Neville joined in and shrugged when Hermione glared at him. He thought it was funny.

Seamus leaned in and whispered, "So I hear the Slytherin boys are fighting over ya, aye?"

She choked down the food and alternated glaring at him and looking at a scowling Draco. Fighting over her? What for? She noted that Blaise was a tad possessive, but he hadn't done anything extreme. He walked her to class, kissed her in public, and often joined her in her dormitory, but nothing out of the ordinary or hurtful. Actually, she felt flattered at the thought of it. He was protecting her, she just didn't know what from.

"I'll take that as a yes.", he chuckled, his Irish accent making him sound even sillier. At that moment, Dean Thomas decided to scoot over too, his eyes sparkling with curiosity.

"What're we talking about?"

Neville elbowed Hermione in the ribs playfully, and Seamus started poking at her.

"Yes, dear Hermione, what is it that we're talking about?", Neville played along.

"Oh I don't know, Neville. Perhaps about how you lost Trevor again?", Hermione scowled, not wanting to tell the two boys about her and Blaise's escalating relationship.

"Hermione! You very well know that Trevor saw his last day long ago.", Neville put his right hand on his heart and bowed his head, "You shall be missed old pal."

"As much fun as this is, I'm afraid I have to run. I left my cloak in my room and I'm feeling a tad chilly.", Hermione stood, waving goodbye to her table of friends.

Draco watched Hermione walk away, much to Blaise's dismay. How much longer was he going to be able to keep this up? He was getting tired of Draco's starring, but at the same time he knew it was in good reason.

The poor git was in love with his best friends girl.

* * *

Hermione stumbled and caught herself on the wall. She was alone, walking down an abandoned corridor. She had grabbed her cloak from her room and decided to take a walk before her first class. She lowered herself to the floor and sat, looking wearily in the direction that she had just come from.

She was confused and scared and worried. A deadly combination. She was confused about why she always thought about Draco, always longing his company, and not Blaise's. While she may not be an expert on relationships, she was pretty sure that you weren't supposed to be in love with someone else.

Had she just admitted she was in love with Draco?

Hermione backtracked, it was impossible. They were only friends, if that. She knew that he would never want to be anything more with a muggle-born like her, he had made it very clear over the years how he felt about her 'kind'.

Then again, hadn't he also said that they would never be friends? And look where they were now.

Hermione was scared because she was feeling things she had never felt before. The 'love' that she and Ron supposedly had compared nothing to the passion she felt for Draco.

Hermione couldn't explain herself. She had no idea what she was thinking. It wasn't like her and Draco had ever had any meaningful connections. They didn't interact like friends were suppose to interact. They didn't confide in each other. She just wanted all of that.

Hermione mentally slapped herself. She was with _Blaise._

_Get ahold of yourself, Granger! _She inwardly yelped, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat.

Over all, Hermione was worried. She worried just to worry. Over nothing specific, just life in general. While she may have felt better about the death of her parents, there was always the familiar tug in the back in her mind, tempting her with words of sorrow.

_They were all you had in the world._

_They were the only ones that ever supported you fully._

_They will be the only ones that will ever accept you as you are._

_You're nothing without you parents, are you?_

_Who will you go home to when all of this is over?_

_What is left for you?_

A pained sob tore its way through Hermione, leaving her with nothing but her doubts and insecurities scattered across the cold hard floor.

* * *

Harry watched Hermione leave the Great Hall, a small smile playing at his lips. He saw what had just gone down with Seamus, Neville, and Dean.

He thought back to his fight with Ron, it seemed as though time was falling through his fingers. A few days ago he had stormed to the library, mad as an ox, thinking about hexing the bloody git to oblivion, and here he was, sitting next to the same bloody git.

Perhaps he should follow her and see if they couldn't talk about things. It was strange not having Hermione around all the time, and he missed her. Sighing, Harry picked up his books and told Ron he was going to go to class.

Harry wasn't exactly sure where Hermione was going, so he made his way to the library. After finding it free of Hermione, he went to her dorm. He saw her slip out of the portrait with her cloak in her arms.

_I wonder where her books are... _Class would be starting soon, and Hermione never was one to be late.

He followed her from a safe distance and watched her turn down an abandon hallway. They had gone a long way, long enough for Harry to think that Hermione had wanted to be alone. He stilled before turning. Waiting, listening. He heard a scruff of fabric against rock and assumed she had sat down. Her muffled cries didn't escape Harry's ears, though it wasn't until he heard her sob that he went for her.

Hermione was on the floor, writhing as though she was in pain. She was so tired of everything. She just wanted everything to be easy and for the war to have never happened.

She just wanted her parents. She wanted someone to run to.

Harry helped Hermione up and pulled her into a hug, burying his face in her hair. She gasped for air, sobbing. He rubbed her back reassuringly and whispered sweet nothings in her ear.

"Everything is going to be okay. Shh. Don't cry.", Harry whispered, holding on tighter.

"They're gone!", Hermione screamed. Harry was disheveled by the amount of pain in her voice, he had never met this Hermione. She had always been the strong one, the one that was always level headed. Through and through, Hermione had been the one that always had the answers.

"Who's gone? I'm right here, everyone is alright."

Hermione pulled away from him and ran down the hall. She turned around and met his worried eyes with her frantic ones.

"My parents!"

She ran. She ran until she could run no more. She ran until she was sure no one would follow.

She ran to the one place that was perfect for her.

She ran to the Room of Requirement.

Hermione began to pace in front on where the entrance would be, chanting 'a safe place where no one can find me' in her head. After her third pass, the door materialized.

She entered and nearly burst into tears at the sight before her. It was a replica of Draco's bedroom. The same one from her memories.

Sweat pants draped over his desk chair.

Bed neatly made.

Empty.

It seemed as though that killed her the most. Draco wasn't here. His personality didn't shine in this room as it did in his real one. She sat on the bed and took one of the pillows, breathing in the clean scent. That wasn't what she had wanted. She wanted _Draco. _She wanted him here with her, she wanted him laughing with her, she wanted him smiling with her.

It was finally clear to her. She was indeed in love or something with Draco Malfoy.

Not Blaise.

It broke her heart and set the pieces on fire to know that she would have to end her relationship with Blaise. She did like him, but she couldn't stop feeling like everything was wrong. Hermione was certain that she was just tormenting herself.

_I'm lucky he ever asked in the first place... _Curiosity struck her and she shot right out of the bed.

_Why did he even ask in the first place?_

Hermione ran out of the room and darted to her dormitory. She needed to get ready. While she may have missed most of her classes that day, there was one that she planned on being at.

* * *

Ginny hummed, she and Harry were walking through the corridors, looking for their troubled friend. Harry had lost sight of Hermione on the seventh floor and suspected she had gone into the Room of Requirement, which had denied him access.

They continued to pace, passing the occasional student that sought solitude. Harry pulled Ginny towards him and sighed into her hair. He would never get tired of these moments where he simply held her.

Harry looked at his watch, soon it would be time for Potions, and he knew better than to skip Snape's class. Pulling Ginny in for a chaste kiss, the couple walked back towards Gryffindor tower, to grab their things and head their separate ways. While their search had turned out to be uneventful, Harry felt as though they had found something that they hadn't been necessarily looking for.

_Peace._

* * *

Blaise fidgeted in his seat, his eyes darting back towards the door as he waited for Hermione. He knew she wouldn't skip Potions, and had saved her a seat next to him. When she finally did float in, he was surprised to see a slight smile on her face. He had begun to expect her hardened eyes, pain stirring like a sea beneath them.

She sat down next to him and retrieved her books from her bag, setting them carefully on the table, only then did she acknowledge his presence.

"Hello, Blaise.", she said wearily, her smile slipping though only for a second. He eyed her questioningly before he leaned in for a kiss. Hermione pulled away only to quickly for his liking.

"How has your day been, Hermione? I haven't seen you since this morning. I was beginning to worry...", he rambled on. It was at that moment that Draco had walked into the room, and Hermione couldn't even pretend she was paying attention to what Blaise was talking about anymore. He captured her attention and held onto it with a simple flick on his eyes, smiling at her dumbstruck face.

"Hermione?", Blaise waved a hand in front of her face, for she was staring over his shoulder with a dreamy look in her eyes.

She shook her head and looked at Blaise, a shy smile playing on her lips, "I'm sorry, could you please repeat the question?"

"I only asked how your day had been so far.", he said softly, taking one of her hands in his own.

She retracted her hand to push some of her hair out of her face, "I skipped most of my classes, I've needed some time to think about things, and I really think I know what's been bothering me lately..."

"Is it something you want to talk about?"

Hermione was glad she didn't have to ask, it would make him to suspicious.

"Yes. After class. We'll take a walk."

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Snape swept into the classroom, speaking on how he was not late, everyone else was just early. They began the class by receiving feedback on the potions they had recently brewed, but Hermione found herself distracted by a certain blond Slytherin with light eyes, who cautiously stared back at her.

Draco swore that his heart skipped a beat when Hermione's eyes met his. This overwhelming need to protect her came over him. He gripped at his seat, holding on for dear life. Snape would be livid if he caused a scene in his classroom.

The class dragged on, and for three students it felt like forever, however, once it was over, those same three students wished it had continued on. They all feared what would happen next.

Perhaps everything was not as it once seemed.

* * *

**Choo choo, motherfucker.**


	5. 5

Hermione and Blaise walked out of Potions, Blaise trying to hold Hermione's hand and Hermione expertly avoiding it. They walked through the corridors, searching for a place where they could be alone, when they stumbled upon an abandoned classroom. The sheer size of Hogwarts still baffled Hermione, even more than that she could do magic. The castle was huge, full of abandoned rooms, secret passageways, and other hidden nooks.

Blaise walked straight to the middle of the room and sat down, patting the spot next to him, Hermione chose to instead sit across from him.

"What's on your mind?"

Hermione sighed and thought of a way to answer his question. What wasn't on her mind? She had been so confused lately, and while she was sure of her feelings for Draco, it made her wonder what this feeling she had for Blaise was. It wasn't the brotherly love she had once felt for Ron, it wasn't the deep longing she felt for Draco, and it wasn't even the love of a friend that she felt for Neville.

"A bit of everything.", she glanced up and looked into his eyes. They didn't capture her soul the way Draco's had. They didn't even take her breath away. His brown eyes were much different from her own. His shone with power while hers shone with compassion.

"Anything specific you want to talk about?", he pushed. There was something that she was hiding from him, and he didn't like it.

"Us.", she whispered, barely audible. Blaise heard her, though. He had prepared himself for this day. He knew what he would have to say. He would make a clean break, and he would be the one to do it.

"I've wanted to talk about us too, Hermione. I think it's better if we end this little game we've played now, before either one of us gets too involved."

Hermione's jaw dropped. What did he mean 'too involved'? They were already 'too involved'! And game? This wasn't a game for her. This was a relationship built off of friendship and love, she wasn't some throwaway girl that you could just discard once you got bored with her!

"Why did you even ask me to out with you in the first place? Is this just some 'game' for you?", she accused, standing up and looking down at him.

"This has always been a game, silly girl! I asked you for fun! Me and Draco had a-", he stopped talking when he saw Hermione start to fall backwards. He caught her, but barely.

She opened her eyes and looked into his, letting out whimper.

"Draco?"

Blaise knew he had gone to far, but there was no going back. He just gulped and nodded, sitting her up. She bit her lip and the tears started to fall, silent as the dead.

"You said you cared about me.", she quipped, taking small shallow breaths.

"I never said I didn't. But this would never work out. My fellow Slytherins are turning on me, they think I'm becoming soft. I never meant for you to get hurt. I just-"

"You never meant for me to get hurt? Well, of course I'm hurt, Blaise. You just told me that our relationship was a game. I gave myself to you. Physically and emotionally, and you used me.", Hermione whispered.

Blaise backed away for her, cautiously looking into her eyes. She was livid, sorrow scorching through her veins. She stood up and walked up to him. He was afraid for his life at that moment, he knew the kind of hexes that Hermione could use against him. Instead she placed a searing kiss on his lips and pushed him to the ground.

"So much for your game, huh?", she sobbed, reality turning the hate into sadness. She ran away from him, wishing she could disapperate to somewhere far away where no one knew her name.

The only place she could go where she could be alone was her dorm, though Hermione was uncertain to whether Draco would be there. Blaise had mentioned Draco when he was talking about this little 'game' that he had played with her, and Hermione was dying to know what his role in it was.

It killed her to think that maybe her feelings for him were tainted because of whatever she had with Blaise. She couldn't deny that she had fallen in love with Blaise. He had been her first lover, her gentlest kiss, and shoulder to cry on.

Being the kind of girl Hermione was, she was determined to move on. She knew it would be hard, she knew it would hurt, but she also knew that she had to do it.

Hermione wiped her face off and walked bravely through the halls. She was Head Girl, she was someone the younger girls looked up to and aspired to be, just as she did with the past Head Girls.

She looked back and shook her head, she was done waiting for things to come to her. It was about time she start living her life.

* * *

Draco paced. Hermione had gone off with Blaise, and while he knew he shouldn't be worried, he was. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed sleepily. Perhaps he would take a short nap on the couch, so that Hermione would know where he was when she came back.

He laid down and looked over at the window longingly. Not long ago they had sat watching the rain together. Slowly falling further and further asleep, Draco was assaulted by dreams of him and Hermione walking hand in hand towards the ruby red Hogwarts Express, looking back only for a second at the place they had considered their second home for the last 8 years.

Hermione saw Draco sleeping contentedly on the couch and smiled. She walked over and ran the back of her hand over his cheek. Sighing, she walked up to her own room and put on her pajamas. She returned to the common room with two pillows and blankets. She shoved one of the pillows under Draco's head and covered his body with one of the blankets before walking over to the gold couch and making herself a bed.

She fell asleep that night watching Draco's chest rise and fall, his breaths matching hers.

* * *

Draco opened his eyes, stifling a scream when he saw Hermione across from him, her eyes still closed. He watched her breath in and out, slow and steady. Draco noted that there was a pillow under his head, and that he was clutching a green blanket rather tightly.

_Of course she would stick to our house colors. _He scowled, looking over at her red blanket. Didn't she know yet? That he actually didn't like green? Just because he was a Slytherin, didn't mean that he had to be all gaga over green and snakes. Silver was a fine color, it reminded him of his mothers eyes.

Hermione's eyes fluttered open, automatically meeting Draco's stare. He blinked a little and regained his composure, putting on a smooth smile. Hermione smiled back at him. How long had he been watching her?

"What are you doing sleeping on the couch?", he whispered, not wanting to ruin the moment. Her eyes widened as she tried to think of a valid excuse for sleeping on the couch. He chuckled at her bashfulness and scooted up into a sitting position. Hermione followed suit, pulling up the blanket with her.

"I saw you here and thought it might be fun, like a camp out.", she shrugged, not wanting him to think too much of it. A deep sense of dread seeped into her stomach as she remembered what had happened yesterday. She looked at the boy that she was so sure she loved and wondered why her stomach knotted up at the sight of him smiling.

Draco stared back at Hermione, feeling his smile fall. What was wrong? Her face was contorted with pain, and it frightened him.

"Hermione, are you alright?", he reached out, frowning. She shrunk away from his hand, so he retracted it, feeling horrible. Had he done something wrong? Was she sick? Was she sick of him?

"I-.", she swallowed, forcing the words to come out, "I need to ask you something."

"Whatever it is, ask it!", he vigorously nodded.

Hermione looked down at her hands, "Did you know what Blaise was doing?"

Her voice was barely a whisper, but it stung Draco. He didn't know if he'd rather have her screaming at him with anger or whispering to him, her voice laced with pain. He chose the former, he would rather have her angry than in pain.

"It matters what he was doing."

Hermione sighed in frustration, "Did you know that our whole relationship was just a game because he was bored one day and thought it'd be fun to ask me out? The poor little Gryffindor bookworm?"

Draco's mouth opened with a pop. Did Blaise tell her about the plan? Did he tell her about Draco being apart of it? Why did she think he knew anything about it?

"Me and Blaise don't really talk about that kind of stuff.", Draco lied. Hermione's face no longer had a pained look on it, rather an annoyed. She saw through his lie. She knew he knew something.

How did she know? She just did. She _was _Hermione Granger after all.

"Then why did he mention your name?", she spat.

Draco looked this way and that, anywhere but her face, one look in his eyes and she would know. All of his secrets would spill out.

"He told you about that plan then?", he said calmly. Because he wasn't looking at her, Draco didn't see Hermione's face. She was taken aback, what plan? Taking advantage of the situation, she chose to lie.

"Yes."

"Bloody hell!", he threw his fists in the air, "Why would he do that? He knew that the plan stopped being a plan after a while!"

Hermione didn't know what to say, but she wanted more information on what this 'plan' was. She was trying to think of what to say when Draco started to rant again.

"You have to understand Hermione how angry I was when I thought of that! It's true that I wanted you to hurt, but that stopped once I knew how great of a person and exceptional witch you were. I just couldn't stand that you were happier than I was."

"I thought I felt something for you. I gave you a second chance. You used me, Malfoy. You never cared.", she whispered, "I think about you all the time. I thought something good was going to come of this."

He wished she would yell. Her whispers cut through him like fire, tearing him in half with every syllable.

"You want to be with me?", he marveled at the witch before him. She felt something for him. He felt something for her. It wasn't the normal 'something', but they really weren't the normal couple.

"Wanted. Past tense."

Draco looked up at Hermione, who had stood. She glared at him, her fingers twitching. She wanted to grab her wand and duel him, but she knew that if she did, she wouldn't hold back.

As angry as she was, she didn't want to hurt him. She couldn't stop loving him. He had told her about his plan and yet all she hoped is that he could be as happy as he thought she was. It killed her to walk away from him, but what else could she do? She stepped out of the dormitory and ran, no destination in mind.

"Hermione, wait!", Draco called, rushing after her. He didn't have to worry about her running into the arms of another man this time. This time he was going to catch her. This time she was going to be his.

This time was going to be the last time he ever caused her pain.

They ran. She may have gotten a head start, but she knew she wasn't really trying to get away this time. She wanted to be caught. She wanted someone to chase her, to show her that they cared. She passed by other students, though they were all a blur. Where was she going to run to? There was nowhere for her to go.

He was frantic. He had lost sight of her. This was his last chance, his only chance. If he didn't catch her, he knew what would happen. He would spend the rest of his days alone, missing her. When had he realized this feeling for her he felt was love? There was nothing to compare it to. People were pointing, whispering. Judging him for losing the one thing that gave him feeling.

She looked back and her heart dropped. He wasn't there. He wasn't coming for her. She turned around and started to cry. Students flooded the halls. They pointed, they snickered. Had they known all along? That she was in love with the one person who hated her the most?

"Get outta my way.", a voice yelled from behind her. She saw him. He was pushing people and cursing, his eyes searching. Then he found her. She saw a twinkle in his eye that had been hidden from her for so long.

"You came.", she said horsley. Her throat was closing up and she felt her chest shaking. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe there was something out there for her.

"Of course I came.", he sighed, he walked up to her. She looked up at him. She threw herself into his arms. He tightened his grip on her, for he was never letting go again.

And then, in a corridor full of on looking students, Draco and Hermione finally kissed. A hush fell over the crowd. No one dare say anything as the couple pulled apart, grabbing each others hand and walking down the corridor. They were on the search for their quiet place. The place where they could be whoever they wanted to be. The place where they didn't have to pretend.

A place they could be together.

Both knew what lie ahead, both knew that questions would have to be answered.

But both didn't care. At that very moment, it seemed as though everything was in slow motion, until it finally came to a stop. They had reached the courtyard.

Draco pulled out of Hermione's hand, grabbing his wand and casting a warming charm over them. It was winter time, and neither had their cloaks. Hermione took a step forward and Draco pulled her back.

"I have never felt so warm.", he whispered into her ear, "Your company, it makes my heart beat faster. It makes me want to slow down and watch the snowfall. I have never felt so comfortable."

Draco's walls started to melt as he let Hermione see who he really was. She looked into his eyes and no longer saw the cold silver she had come accustomed to, indeed, his eyes were a warm gray. It sent shivers up her spine, it took all of her concentration to stay standing at that moment. Her legs felt like jelly and her heart raced.

Why had it taken them so long to realize this? It had taken them two months to be civil towards each other, and 8 years for them to fall in love. It had taken a war to make Draco realize that there was more to the world than blood. It had taken heartbreak for Hermione to realize that sometimes, you didn't have to be strong, that sometimes it was alright to ask.

Which one of them had changed more?

"Lets go.", he said, pulling her along toward their rooms. He had failed to answer all of her questions, and he knew that this was too perfect to be true. They needed to talk and decide what was best for them, though Draco also knew that he wouldn't let her go. This was the start of something new, and neither knew what that meant for them.

* * *

They sat on the red couch, Hermione starting a fire with the flick of her wand. Draco sighed, she could already do wordless magic while he still had to yell out spells. Hermione snuggled into his chest, she didn't really want to talk. All she wanted was him, and she had him. Did there have to be a catch to it? Couldn't she just have him and be happy? A content smile crossed her face as Draco leaned down and captured her mouth, stealing away kisses that should have been his long ago.

The road ahead would be a tough one. Hermione would be judged by her fellow Gryffindors and Draco would be ridiculed by his fellow Slytherins. For once this house unity thing seemed like a pretty good deal to Draco.

_I'd become a Hufflepuff for her! _He mused. He would never be a Hufflepuff, but he could pretend.

Sometimes Hermione liked to think about her life. Everything that she had done to get to this exact moment. It saddened her to think about her relationship with Harry and Ron. She had let them slip away. Ever since she was a lucky little 11-year-old, they had been friends. She had gone on countless journeys with them, she had experienced things with them that she would never have gotten the chance to otherwise.

And she was certain that she wouldn't let them get away from her. They were in all of her favorite memories, and hopefully they'd create some new ones too.

This was her life, and it was time she started to take it by the reins and enjoy it.

The war was over.

She was laying in the arms of the boy she thought she might love.

And she had great friends.

There was nothing more an orphaned child could want.

As for Draco, he finally found the one thing he had looked for his whole life.

Acceptance.

* * *

Hermione was finding it dreadfully hard to focus on writing her Potions essay while Draco was watching her. She dipped her quill in ink just to look over at him. A lop sided smile fell onto his face as he stared into the eyes of _his_ Hermione. She cocked an eyebrow and winked at him, falling into a fit of laughter. He really was a special one. She focused back onto her paper and started to write, blocking out anything that didn't have to do with the uses of burberry in potions.

Draco thought about the last two weeks, they had been amazing. He and Hermione had finally gotten together, and it was no secret to the rest of the school. The rumors had traveled fast, it seemed as though the whispers were never-ending. Draco would never deny that he loved everyone knowing that she was his, but while nothing bad was said about Draco, rather nasty things were being said about Hermione. She had just jumped from on boyfriend to the other, and while they would never know the story, people would be people and assume that meant she had cheated on Blaise.

Blaise had no say on whether any of that was true. He tended to stay by himself. He and Draco still talked, but their relationship would never be the same. Blaise felt used and cheated on. Hermione had loved Draco all along. She may have not of acted on it, but to Blaise, it felt no different from having her do so.

Hermione had admitted to herself that she did kind of use Blaise, but that didn't mean she didn't love him, it was just all so complicated. When she thought back to it, she really wished she would have waited to be with Draco.

Draco picked up his book and flipped through the pages to where he had left off. Every so often he would flick his eyes up and see a determined Hermione scribbling like mad on her parchment.

"Neville! What are you doing here?", Hermione laughed, pulling him into a hug. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed, laughing along with her.

There was a knocking coming from the area where the entrance to their dormitory would be if the hole were enlarged. Hermione went to answer the knocking, and was pleasantly surprise to see that it was Neville.

"Neville! Hello, I wasn't expecting you."

"Is that your way of saying I can't come visit you at your dorm?", he questioned, mostly joking, but also a little worried that he shouldn't have come.

"No, no! Its fine! I just wasn't expecting to see you!"

"Actually, I came to ask Ma- Draco something.", Neville cleared his throat, pointing to the portrait.

"Draco? Oh. Alright, come in."

Draco looked up to see long faced Longbottom walking towards him. What could he possibly want? Draco thought back to when Longbottom wouldn't even come within ten feet of him...

"Hey, Malfoy. Wanna go flying with me and some of the Gryffindor guys?", he said gruffly, not looking Draco in the eye.

_Ah, so there still is some fear in him. _Draco smirked.

"Sure, Longbottom. Let me get out of my robes and I'll meet you down by the quidditch pitch.", Draco stood, looking down at the coward. Draco stood quite a few inches taller than Neville, and used this to his advantage. He took a step forward, and Neville took a step back, eyeing him nervously. With a smirk, Draco walked up the stairs.

"You're going... Flying? With Draco?", Hermione asked tentatively. Neville hated flying...

"Yeah. You're free to come, 'Mione.", Neville smiled, using the nickname Ron had given her oh so many years ago.

"I need to finish my Potions essay.", she said, looking over at her abandoned parchment.

"Do it later! Come with us!", he said excitedly, pulling her towards the portrait.

"No. I... I can't. I need to finish.", she pulled away, "I'm sorry."

"Its mighty alright. If you change your mind, you know where to find us!", Neville called, leaving her alone in the common room.

Hermione was terrified of flying. It was the one thing she had never been able to get a grasp on. Memories of a stubborn broom bucking her off seeped into her mind. She had never been able to get over that.

Draco snuck down the stairs and grabbed Hermione from behind. She let out a shriek that sounded more like a laugh.

"What are you going to do when its a real Hermione-napper? Giggle your whole way down to the dungeons?", he whispered in her ear, turning her around and throwing her over his shoulder.

"I don't know. I suppose I'll do this!", she reached her hands down and started to tickle his sides, sending him into a fit of laughter and tears.

"Stop before I drop you!", he warned, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"I dare you to.", Hermione countered.

Draco set Hermione on the couch and swooped in for a deep kiss. He opened his eyes and saw her looking at him, smiling as he pulled away, he wondered why he was so lucky.

"Have fun.", she smiled up at him. She wished he would stay and snog her senseless, but knew that he was waiting for her to make the first move.

"I won't be long.", he stole a quick kiss and walked away, wanting nothing more than to stay. He grabbed his broom and looked back at her, watching him leave. There had to be something that Longbottom wanted from him, he would never willingly want to hang out with Draco. Curiosity coursed through his veins as he made his way down to the quidditch fields.

He was greeted by Neville, Seamus, and Dean, all looking very serious and rather uncomfortable.

Neville cleared his throat to speak, but Draco beat him to it.

"What is it you need to say to me?"

Seamus looked over at Dean and nodded, "We want to let you know that if you do anything to Hermione-"

"We'll do something ten times worse to you.", Neville growled, cutting Seamus off.

"You three seem mighty protective of her.", Draco drawled, looking at the three _boys_ in front of him.

"Of course! She's our friend!", Dean scowled.

"Good. She needs friends that will be there for her when times are hard, friends that will accept the choices that she's made.", Draco kicked off the ground and started to fly, his broom steady beneath him. The three Gryffindors watched in awe as he raced across the field, disappearing somewhere around one of the towers.

"I don't even like flying!", Neville yelled, kicking at the ground unsteadily. He had gotten better at flying, though still wasn't comfortable with it in the slightest. Scowling, Dean and Seamus started walking back inside, Neville in tow.

They had taken maybe ten steps before stopping dead. Maybe it was the cold wind that hit them in the face, or the beauty of the snow falling around them, but all three boys finally understood what Draco had told them.

Hermione had chosen Draco. Their friend had fallen for the impossible git and they had to accept it.

But that didn't mean they had to like it.

* * *

**So I wrote this and stuff. Woooooooooooop.**


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